Feudalism established: Decentralization of power from king to feudal lords. Obligation of kings and vassals to each other.

Manorialism: Self-sufficient economy of lord's manor. Most work done by serfs and villeins. Necessary because of lack of security due to invasions, feudal warfare, diminished trade, etc…

Collapse of trade, learning, towns/cities (except in Italy).

Church is the strongest institution during the Medieval Era. Conflicts with monarchs/lords over lay investiture, whether clergy should be tried in royal or church courts, whether monarchs must recognize authority of Pope, etc.

Late (High) Middle Ages. The first real economic recovery of Western Europe (since fall of Rome) began during the 1000s/1100s.

2) Political Science - Machiavelli's stress on reality of what is necessary to gain/keep power, rather than medieval ideals.

Spread to Northern Europe:

Why and how did the Renaissance spread to northern Europe?

In what ways did the Renaissance spirit change in Northern Europe?

New Scientific and Technological Innovations during the Renaissance

Where did Europeans get the idea for the printing press?

What impact did Gutenberg's invention of the moveable type printing press in 1440 have on life in Europe?

nautical devices, cartography, naval engineering (plus curiosity, spirit of adventure, economic factors) - will lead to Age of Exploration)..

III. Reformation and Counter Reformation

1. Define reformation and counter-reformation

Background:

Why did Reformation occur?

(Conflicts with monarchs, schism, Black Death, Crusades, Christian humanism, earlier challenges to Church by Wycliffe and Huss and Savanarola, corruption, simony, indulgences, wealth of church, building of St. Peter's, etc.)

Was the Reformation an outgrowth of the Renaissance, or a completely separate development?

Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation:

How did the Reformation challenge the traditional power and authority of the Roman Catholic Church?